38 Years

Today is our 38th anniversary! 38 years!! That sounds so looong when you are on the starting end of it! But looking back over the 38 years I've been married it really doesn't seem that long at all! I have no idea how my kids got as old as they are when we don't feel any older than they are now!! HA!!

I met hubby 40 years ago when he was a tour guide for a bunch of Swedish students on tour around the US. He had been part of a Lutheran Youth Encounter singing/ministry team that had toured the Scandinavian countries the previous year, and they asked him to go with the tour, because when he was there, he had stayed in the homes of many of these kids. They were staying in the homes of Lutheran church folks around the US, and we hosted 2 girls. Our youth group had a big beach party for them, and among all the very fair-skinned Sweeds, was 1 tan guy with wonderful blue eyes. I flirted shamelessly and made sure I sat by him when were around the bonfire that night! He had a super voice and I was totally smitten! I gushed to my mom all the way home from the church, only finding out much later that one of the girls we were hosting had a major crush on him on that trip!!

I made sure he had my phone number and address - so he could "send me literature on Lutheran Youth Encounter"!! Yeah - right - and I never got that literature either!! HA!! He sent me a postcard toward the end of the tour telling me he would call me when he got home. Home, by the way was only 15 miles from where I lived! (Handy!!) He called me 2 weeks later and said he had been drafted, and would I like to go out? We went out 3 times that week and he left for boot camp! We wrote and had a few phone calls, and I went to San Francisco one weekend with his folks to visit after boot camp - then he was off to Viet Nam for a year!

We wrote like mad that entire year - and I sent a lot of pictures. For my 19th birthday he sent me an engagement ring - he had borrowed money from several of his buddies to buy it, and every time I sent pictures they wanted to see "their" fiance, so he got them paid off quickly!! The military gave guys over there a 2-week R&R (Rest & Relaxation) in the middle of their tour, and he wanted me to meet him in Hawaii! I was only 19 and still living at home, and things were different then, so when dad said I could only go if he met me at the airport with a preacher, I decided to stay home!! We talked on the phone when he was there for 2 hours one day!! He went back to his (thankfully!) desk job on a big base in Viet Nam, and came home about 6 months later. The wedding was planned for about 6 months after that and we were married in his church then left on our honeymoon after a short reception in the fellowship hall.

We went up the coast to Santa Barbara and stayed in a cute hotel near the ocean. Things were vastly different then, and we were in a gaily painted (by my younger brother with permanent paint - oops! we had to have it re-painted after we got back!) tan VW and had about $100 in our pockets, and a $5 check an older lady at church gave us right before we left. We stayed 3 nights, and the last night we had dinner out on the pier with our last $20. Our dinner was $18.50 and we left $1.50 tip and took off quickly! I worked for a bank, so we waited til the Santa Barbara branch of that bank opened at 10 the next morning, cashed the $5 check, filled the VW with gas, had breakfast at McDonalds, and headed home! We got home a day early, so we didn't tell anyone we were home and enjoyed our own little duplex!

Marriage has had it's ups and downs like every one experiences, but we learned early-on how to fight fair and come out the other side still loving and committed to each other. We have buried grandparents, and now 3 of our combined parents; raised 2 wonderful sons, put them through college, watched them marry and have adorable daughters. We have bought 3 houses and sold 2 and have attended the same Nazarene church hubby was raised in. Through everything we have seen God's hand in our lives, and the lives of our friends and family. While we are neither perfect people - we are perfect for each other and are still much in love!

What does the future hold? I have no clue! We have our working/retirement/moving/traveling plans laid out, but our plans are subject to God's re-routing as He sees fit! What I do know for sure, is that as long as I live, I will love and respect this man that God hooked me up with all those years ago! Happy Anniversary Babe!